Spartacus 16 - 37 Göteborg
Derby Day take two
Just two weeks after the first hard fought Göteborg derby both teams were braced for the second and final installment for the season. With several key players missing through injury and unavailability Göteborg were forced to shuffle the pack and the backline however remained as strong as usual.
With this game coming so quickly after the first both teams could make good judgements on the style of play they would be up against. Göteborg deciding that the best chance for success would come through the speedy backline and so the team would try to spread the ball wide often.
The game was played in extremely warm conditions for rugby where water and sunscreen would be required.
Göteborg managed to build up some very early pressure and force the opponents into conceding a penalty which Florian duly converted. Despite this early scoreboard advantage Göteborg failed to seize the initiative conceding far too many penalties allowing Spartacus o advance there sizable pack down field. However the tryline defence from Göteborg was resolute and Göteborg escaped several times without conceding.
Spartacus were achieving a lot of success turning the ball over as Göteborg looked to earn the right to use there backs out wide. Eventually the team decided to just move the ball wide as quick as possible and trust the speed out wide. This instantaneously paid off with Göteborg winning a shortened lineout on the right sending a couple of large dummy runners up the middle then getting the ball out to the left wing where Myke skinned his opposite number for pace to score in the corner.
Göteborgs discipline especially with the offside line ensured spartacus had the field position they needed for there hard one out running game to be effective. Göteborg then started giving away penalties in kickable positions which Spartacus helped themselves to two of to keep scoreboard pressure on GRF. With the half nearing its conclusion it looked as if the scores would be close until Fidde burst onto a pass on a delicious angle to split the line then selflessly drew the fullback and passed to Mattias to score under the sticks.
After the half the team managed to get the ball wider more often causing the hosts problems. Spartacus eventually tired and Göteborg managed to find more holes in the line. Super sub Vannerberg came on to great effect bunding over two times after some good offloading.
Göteborgs best work was saved for the second of Myke’s two tries. The ball moving quickly from ten to twelve. Chris then drew two defenders in and slipped a beautiful one handed offload to Florian who had looped round. Florian the drew the winger and popped the ball to Myke who had barely a yard to work with but used all of his pace to dart around the covering defenders to score.
Spartacus would get a late consolation try bundling over after some strong forward play. Final score 37-16 to Göteborg. The team can be happy with how they moved the ball wide but will need to reduce the penalty count in the future. Man of the match was Fidde who made countless tackles and ran some great lines.
/Stuart